JobsOhio, the state-funded privatized development agency, grants more tax credits around Columbus, the state capital, than anywhere else in the state. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer,
the discrepancy might be driven by Columbus’ high growth rate and the
city’s proximity to the state government, which could make Columbus officials more aware of tax-credit opportunities. But
Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann also blames local governments
in southwest Ohio for failing to act in unison with a concerted
economic plan to bring in more tax credits and jobs.

Hartmann today plans to introduce a partial restoration of the property tax return
that voters were promised when they approved a half-cent sales tax hike
to build Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium. The return
was reduced when there wasn’t enough money in the sales tax fund to pay
for the stadiums last year, but there might be enough money now to give
property taxpayers more of their money back. It was unclear as of Sunday
how much money someone with a $100,000 home would get back under Hartmann’s plan.

Hamilton County’s Tax Levy Review Committee will recommend a tax levy for the Cincinnati Museum Center only if a few conditions are met,
including transfer of ownership of the Union Terminal from the city to a
new, to-be-formed entity and allocation of public and private funds to
renovate and upkeep the terminal in a sustainable fashion.

City Council last week asked the city administration
to find and allocate $30,000 for the winter shelter, which would put
the shelter closer to the $75,000 it needs to remain open between
mid-to-late December and February. The shelter currently estimates it’s
at approximately $32,000, according to Josh Spring, executive director
of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition. The city administration
now needs to locate the money and turn the transaction into an
ordinance that needs City Council approval and would make the allocation of funds official. To
contribute to the winter shelter, go to tinyurl.com/WinterShelterCincinnati and type in “winter shelter” in the text box below “Designation (Optional)” before making a donation.

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced Thursday that it plans to cut about 500 jobs
in Akron, Ohio. State officials were apparently aware of the plan
in October but underestimated how quickly Lockheed Martin would carry
out the cuts. Ohio Democrats jumped on the opportunity to mock JobsOhio
for failing to move at the “speed of business,” as Republicans claim
only the privatized development agency can, to develop an incentive
package that could have kept Lockheed Martin in Akron. But state
officials say they were led to believe Lockheed Martin’s move would take
months longer.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine certified a petition effort
that, if approved by voters, would require the state to expand its
Medicaid program. The effort
now must gather roughly 116,000 signatures to be approved by the Ohio
Ballot Board and eventually end up on the 2014 ballot. Under Obamacare, states are asked to expand their Medicaid programs; if
they accept, the federal government will pay for the full expansion
through 2016 then indefinitely phase down its payments to 90 percent
after that. The Health Policy Institute of Ohio previously found
the expansion would insure nearly half a million Ohioans and generate $1.8
billion in extra revenue. But the expansion has been so far rejected by
Republican legislators, who tend to be opposed to government-run health care
programs and say they’re concerned the federal government won’t be able
to uphold its commitment to Medicaid as it has for nearly four decades. CityBeat covered the expansion in greater detail here.

In another example of rising secrecy surrounding JobsOhio, state tax credit estimates are now exempt from public records law,
which means the public will no longer be able to see the value of tax
credits granted to new and expanding businesses. The estimate is used by
JobsOhio to gauge whether it should propose granting a tax break to a certain business, but the
Ohio Development Services Agency says it’s concerned the numbers aren’t
accurate in the long term. In the past few months, JobsOhio has been
mired in controversy because of its lack of transparency. Republicans
argue that JobsOhio’s secretive nature allow the privatized development
agency to move more quickly with job-creating development deals, but
Democrats argue tax dollars are being used with little accountability.

The final results of Cincinnati’s disparity study for city contracts aren’t expected until 2015.
The city is pursuing the study, which is estimated to cost between
$500,000 and $1.5 million, to gauge whether Cincinnati should change its contracting policies
to favorably target minority- and women-owned businesses. The study is
necessary before making such changes because of a U.S. Supreme Court
ruling that requires governments to empirically prove there is a racial or
gender-based disparity before favorably targeting such groups.

Meet Cincinnati’s new police chief: Jeffrey Blackwell.
He’s currently deputy chief at the Columbus Division of Police, where
he’s been for 26 years. Blackwell was picked over three other finalists:
Paul Humphries, who’s been acting Cincinnati Police chief since June; Michael Dvorak, deputy chief of the Mesa, Ariz., Police
Department; and Jerry Speziale, deputy superintendent of the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey Police.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio criticized Debe Terhar,
president of the State Board of Education, for calling Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
“pornographic” and demanding it be removed from the state’s teaching
guidelines. Terhar and others have criticized the book because it
contains a scene in which a father rapes his daughter. The Common Core
standards adopted by Ohio suggest The Bluest Eye as an example of reading text complexity, quality and range
for high school juniors who are typically 16 or 17 years old, but it’s
ultimately up to school districts to decide whether the novel belongs in
the curriculum. Removing mention of the book from the state’s
guidelines wouldn’t explicitly ban the book in Ohio schools, but it
would weaken the novel’s prominence as a teaching tool.

The University of Cincinnati Medical Center is part of an international effort
involving clinical trials to cure Alzheimer’s, the neurodegenerative
disease with no known cure that causes long-term memory loss, confusion, mood
swings and other symptoms typical of dementia.

Police are searching for an active shooter
on the grounds of the Washington Navy Yard in the District of Columbia.
The shooter has barricaded himself in a room after allegedly shooting
at least three people.